On 7 February, Court of First Instance should rule on possible suspension of EP decision allowing Olaf to investigate within its body

27/01/2000 (Agence Europe)

On 7 February, the EU's Court of First Instance (CFI) should rule on the possible suspension of the European Parliament's decision enabling the Anti-Fraud Office, Olaf, to conduct enquiries within its body. This is what four Euro-MPs said on Wednesday, MEPs at the origin of the complaint and the request for the suspension lodged last week against the decision: Willi Rothley, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Johannes Voggenbuber and Olivier Dupuis (see EUROPE OF 21 January, p. 12).

At November's plenary session, Parliament adopted, with 406 in favour, 61 against and 21 abstentions, the decision that amends its regulation to Olaf's internal enquiry procedures, determined in theframework of the inter-institutional agreement reached in May (see EUROPE of 20 November, p.15). Should the CFI in Luxembourg agree to suspend the decision, this would be enough to incite the Commission and Council to resume discussions, hopes Willi Rothley. However, he then remarked: "if it does not, the procedure could, in 2 to 3 years, have an uncertain outcome". The MEPs are placing emphasis on the fact that they support the fight against fraud, but that parliamentarians cannot be subjected to the same rules as officials, especially as "parliamentarians do not have the power of budgetary execution", stressed Olivier Dupuis.